The Mustang

Starring: Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruce Dern, Jason Mitchell, Connie Britton, Josh Stewart, Gideon Adlon

Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

Roman Coleman (Matthias Schoenaerts), a quiet and seemingly introverted prisoner who is currently 12 years into his prison sentence for a violent crime, is content to live out the rest of his sentence in peace and often finds himself in solitary confinement. His pregnant daughter Martha (Gideon Adlon), who wants nothing to do with him, is seeking emancipation so she can sell the house and move away to raise her child with her boyfriend. After Roman meets with a psychiatrist (Connie Britton), he is released back into general population and finds himself adopted into an inmate rehabilitation program run by Myles (Bruce Dern), where inmates train wild mustangs to be sold at auction. Under the tutelage of Henry (Jason Mitchell), Roman slowly begins to come out of his shell as he forms a kinship with his mustang, who he dubs "Marcus".  

Matthias Schoenaerts delivers a commanding performance as Roman, injecting a realistic humanity and anger into the character. He doesn't talk much but when he finally opens up and lets the emotion out, as in a scene late in the film with Martha where he talks about his crime, it's incredibly powerful and well acted. When the movie focuses on his relationship with her or with his horse Marcus, the human element of the story comes alive and gives the movie an emotional beating heart.

This is also a gorgeous looking film. Director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre opens the film with sweeping shots of the wide open spaces and the wild mustangs that inhabit them. It's a quiet, yet gripping way to start the film. She continues to imbue the film with these evocative images, along with gritty emotional performances from her leads.  I can't wait to see what she does next.

I also appreciate the ending of the film. It's not necessarily happy or sad, but it felt realistic. I left feeling more uplifted than I was expecting to.

However, when the film tries to inject prison gangs and a racial divide between the prisoners, it doesn't work as well. It's not necessarily bad in any respect, but it isn't as interesting as Roman’s rehabilitation and gives the film a "been there, done that" feel. It is also in a section where a character is unnecessarily killed off. That part just felt cheap.

While there are some familiar aspects to the film, it’s well acted and filled with realistic, emotional performances.  

B+